Pushing attachment for railway train units.



C.T'. BA RRON. PUSHING ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY TRAIN UNI TS.

APPLICATION FILE-D AUG-30, 1919- Patented Oct. 28,1919.

Arrvs.

UNITED sr Application filed August 30, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER T. BAR- RON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pushing Attachments for Railway Train Units, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to in aans wherebya pushing train unit,;-such that constituted by a locomotive engine and its tender, running on one track, may be caused to push another train unit such as a freight car, on another track.

Each unit is customarily provided at a corner portion with a cupped socket, the socket of e: '11 unit being adapted to detachably engage an elongated stiff pole, or, as it is usually called, a stake, adapted to extend diagonally from the unit on one track to the unit on the other track, the arrangiunent being such that. when the pushing unit is moved by its own power, it pushes the other unit through the stake. When the move-.

ment of the pushing unit is checked, the

pushed unit moved onward by its own 1110- mentum and leaves the stake.

. It is now the conunon practice to em ploy a stake which has no direct connection with either unit, and falls to the ground, sometimes with disastrous results, when the movement of the pushing unit is checked. It is necessary for a hrake nan, or other attendant, to support the stake by his hands, in position to engage the sockets of the two units, when one approaches the other, the operation being fraught with danger to the attendant.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide means for so connecting the stake with the train unit, in. such manner that the weight of the stake is a factor in holding its inner end in separable engagement with the socket, and the stake is si'ipported in a substantially horizontal position and free to be swung horizontally by an attendant.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PUSHING ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY TRAIN UNITS.

Serial N0. 320,928.

The invention is embodied in the improve ments which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

(it the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a locomotive tender, equipped with an attachment embodying my invention, and a portion oi. a freight car with which the stake is engaged.

Fig. 52 is a side view of the stake.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing portions of two tracks, two train units and a stake between the units.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings, (it represents a portion oi a pushing unit of a railroad train. the unit being in this case a locomotive tender, provided at its rear end with the usual corner socket 7), adapted to be engaged by the inner end oi a pushing stake (z, the outer end. of which is adapted to engage a similar corner socket b, on a freight car (Z, the unit a being on one track, and the unit (Z do another track. The stake a is usually a wooden pole, about eight feet in length.

In carrying out my invention I provide the unit c with a longer suspending cable 12, and a shorter suspending cable 13, these cables being preferably ron'iposed of chain links. The shorter cable is connected with the unit a at a point. l l which is relatively near and above the socket 7). The longer cable 12 is connected with the unit, at a higher point if).

I also provide the stake with two eyes 16 and 17, the eye 17 heir g at the inner end portion of the stake, and the eye l fl at about the mid length-of the stake. Said eyes are adapted to be detachably engaged with hooks 18 onthe lower ends of the cables 12 and 13.

The arrangement is such that when. the stake eyes are engaged with the rabies. the weight of the stake is a factor in holding its inner end in separable engagement with the socket 7), the stake being supported in a sub-- stantially horizontal position, and free to be swung horizontally on a center of oscillation formed by the socket Z).

The stake is usually stored when not in use, on suitable supports not shown, under the unit a. When the use of the stake is re quired, the attendant removes it from said suppor s, couples the cables 12 and 13 to the Patented Oct. 28, 1.915%.

eyes 16 and 17, and inserts the inner end of the stake in the socket b. The stake is now supported entirely by the unit a, so that the operator standing between two tracks is enabled to readily cause the outer end of the stake to engage the socket b on the unit to be pushed. When -the movement of the pushing unit afis checked, and the pushed unit d leaves the stake, the latter remains supported by the pushing unituntil removed by the attendant. the attendant detaches the cables from the stake eyes, and then stores the stake as usual.

The cables 12 and 13 are preferably permanently connected at their upper ends with the unit a, so that when not in use, they hang. vertically outof the way, as indicated at the left inFig. 1.

The eye 17 is preferably formed in a socketed metal cap 20, which forms the inner end of the stake. The eye 16 may be formed on abolt passed through the thickened midlength portion of the stake.

The pushing unit a is usually provided with two sockets b, and with two pairs of cables 12 and 13', as shown by Fig. 1, the unit 0? being provided with a corresponding num ber of sockets b. In practice, the unit d,

if a freight .car, is provided with four sockets, one at each corner. It is obvious that the sockets b on the-pushing unit, and

the cables 12 and 13, may be attached to the forward portion of that part of the pushing unit constituted by the locomotive proper, the term pushing unit as used herein, being intended to include either the locomotive or it's tender, or both. l J

It is obvious that the cables 1.2 and '13 may be permanently connected with the stake, and detachably connected with the pushing unit. Said cables constitute, an embodiment ofstake-supporting means adapted for connection with the stake and with the pushing unit, and arranged, when so connected, to hold one end of the'stake in.

separable engagement with the socket b, and to permit outward endwise movement of the stake to separate its inner end from the socket. Said means may be otherwise embodied toperform the function stated, with-- out departing from the spirit of the"invention.

The eye16 should be so arranged that the stake, if free to swing in a vertical'planej on the center formed by said eye, would In removing the stake swing downward at its inner end. In other words the inner portion-of the stake between the eye 16 and the inner end is somewhat heavier than the outer portion between said eye and the outer end. This arrangement enables the shorter cable 13 to prevent the stake from being swung by gravity in a vertical plane on the center formed by the eye 16, so that in the event of accidental separation of the inner end of the stake from the socket b, the outer end cannot swing downward.

I claim:

1. In combination with a pushing-trainunit having a stake-engaging socket, longer. and shorter suspending cables, each connected at one end with said unit at a point above the socket, the shorter cable being connected at a point relatively near and above the socket, and the longer cable at a higher point, and a stake formed at its inner end to engage the said socket, and at its outer. end i cable, said cables being adapted to hold the inner end of the stake in swinging engagement with the propelling-unit-socket, and to.

cooperate with said socket in supporting the stake in a substantially horizontal position, the weight of the stake-being a factor in holding the inner end of the stake in separable engagement with the pushing unit socket.

2. A pushing attachment for railway train units, comprising a'pushing stake formed at its inner end to separablyengage a socket on a -pushing-train-unit,-and at its outer end to separably engage a socket on a train-unit to be pushed, and provided at'itsinner end portion with an inner cable-engaging eye, and with an outer cable-engagingeye at substantially the mid-length of the stake, a longer suspending cable engageable-with the outer eye and with a train unit, and a shorter suspending cable engageable with the inner eye and with said unit, the portion of the stake betweenthe outer eye (and theinner end being heavier than the portion between the outer eye'and the outer end.

In testimony whereof- I have aflixed my signature. Y

CHRISTOPHER T. BARRON. 

